ABC reporter slammed after saying he informed Houston police of supermarket ‘looters’
ABC reporter Tom Llamas was slammed on social media Tuesday after tweeting that he was witnessing “looting” at a large supermarket in Houston that warranted informing local police and Coast Guard.
#Breaking We’re witnessing looting right now at a large supermarket in the NE part of Houston & police have just discovered a body nearby
— Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) August 29, 2017
Llamas next tweeted that he had “informed police of the looting and Coast Guard is flying overhead. Multiple officers now on the scene.”
The negative response to the reporter’s tweets was swift, with many on social media accusing Llamas of snitching on hungry residents attempting to survive catastrophic flooding in Houston and surrounding areas.
In what conceivable sense is it a journalist’s role to narc to police on people in a disaster taking food? And so gross to call it “looting” pic.twitter.com/DDSBxc8Zb1
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 29, 2017
Hey, @TomLlamasABC: if you want to call something “looting” and report it to the authorities, start with this: https://t.co/bMp18ZSfO9
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 29, 2017
Tom, don’t listen to these people. It was very brave and right of you to put property ahead of flood victims. You are a hero. Thank you.
— Jon Tayler (@JATayler) August 29, 2017
Wow. This is reckless endangerment. People taking food from supermarkets in a multi-day disaster are not looters, they are survivors. https://t.co/37L0OTaP8m
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) August 29, 2017
this, is what you should be reporting to police as “looting,” @TomLlamasABC —> https://t.co/Z18UFtwKC9
— kelly cohen (@politiCOHEN_) August 29, 2017
Following the outcry on Twitter, Llamas deleted his second tweet, explaining that what he meant was that he had informed police who were already in the area after responding to the discovery of a dead body.
Let me clear this up–we were w/police who had discovered a dead body & mentioned we saw ppl w/faces covered going into a supermarket nearby pic.twitter.com/bfM5WCCO1e
— Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) August 29, 2017
The 38-year-old Llamas is an anchor for ABC’s “World News Tonight” and chief national correspondent.
The Hill has reached out to ABC News for comment.
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